Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman vetoed a 4-2 Board of Aldermen decision motioned by Alderman Lisa Wynn to replace Tim Cox with Debbie Jaudon as the city’s insurance agent.
Cox has had Starkville as a client for 18 years and drafted the city’s insurance policy for 2015. Regardless of who the agent is, the policy Cox drafted will remain in place until a new one is written for 2016. 
Wiseman said since the matter was initially brought up, he was clear he does not support changing insurance agents mid-year.
“Mr. Cox is not a salaried employee of the city. Nor was he paid hourly for the work he did to create the city’s insurance plan,” Wiseman said in his veto. “Rather, Mr. Cox worked on the good faith principle that if the city accepted the plan he created, he would receive a monthly commission as the city’s insurance agent for the entire year.”
If the board motions to override the veto and is successful, Jaudan will receive payment for the seven months remaining in the year.
The vote was split. Alderman Scott Maynard recused himself from the vote once Wynn made the motion. Aldermen Jason Walker and David Little opposed the motion, while Aldermen Wynn, Ben Carver, Roy Perkins and Henry Vaughn supported it. 
Wynn said Cox had concealed information concerning the contents of the controversial plus-one insurance policy from the board.
“Mr. Cox, in my opinion, cannot be trusted in his business relationship with this city,” Wynn said in the Feb. 17 meeting. 
Wiseman said Cox had only been doing his job and drafted the insurance policy in accordance to Wiseman’s requests. 
“I attended two (Board of Aldermen) meetings while the policy was being drafted, and no members of the board addressed me then,” Cox said. 
Cox said he will be at the next Board of Aldermen meeting if the Mayor should request it, but declined to comment on the issue of the veto.
“I’m going to follow the old coaches rule,” Cox said. “You don’t throw the second punch, because if you do you’ll always be the one they call the foul on.”
During Cox’s relationship with the city, Starkville has never issued a request for competing insurance agents to bid for the role of the city’s insurance agent. If an override is successful, Jaudon will take up the mantle also without an open bid request.
Wiseman said he is not against the idea of finding a new insurance agent, just against replacing Cox midyear and effectively halving the amount of compensation Cox was expecting for his work. 
Wiseman said he hoped the board will take proposals from several  insurance agents when the city has to rewrite its insurance policy for the next year. He said that was the fair way to do it and it would be a good way to be sure that the city of Starkville receives the best benefits for its employees. 
“I agree with the Mayor that if we do this we should do it as part of the budgeting process,” Alderman Walker said during last week’s meeting. “We should open it up and have a request for proposals and see who wants to apply so we are truly getting the best deal for our employees that we can possibly get.”
Maynard recused himself from the vote because his brother sits on the same board as Cox. However, when the motion passed Cox was effectively removed from that board, which would allow Maynard to choose to vote during an override attempt without a conflict of interest. 
The Starkville Dispatch reported Maynard has not stated how he will vote should a motion for an override occur. 
For an override, the board will have to vote at least 5-2. If the board members vote along the same lines as the first vote, Maynard will cast the swing vote. Little said his mind on the matter has not changed since the last meeting.  
Tuesday, Wynn could not be reached for comment.